The virtue of persistence and patience for all you wistful writers who fear it’s never gonna happen ~
- 1915-1920: J.R.R. Tolkien serves in the British Army (age 23-28)
- 1916: He begins work on his fictional world of Middle Earth with “The Fall of Gondolin” based on WWI’s Battle of the Somme (age 24)
- early 1930s: Tolkien starts writing "The Hobbit" (nearly 40 years of age)
- 1937: "The Hobbit" is published (age 45)
- 1937-1949: Writes "The Lord of the Rings" as a sequel to "The Hobbit" (age 45-57)
- 1954: "The Lord of the Rings" is published (age 62) and goes on to become one of the most beloved books of all time with more than 150 million copies sold
